In a Haze of Rain and Desert
by Ancient85
Summary: The journey through the wet desert brings back happy memories for Sara and the rest of the Team. The desperate search for Sara's whereabouts continues. A conversation with Natalie Davis raises new fears and makes finding Sara quickly much more important.
1. Chapter 1

Here's another season premiere fic to add to the rest of them. I took more time with this one than I usually take with my fanfics. So hope you enjoy the chapter. Spoilers for 'Living Doll'.

* * *

It had been hours since she was taken and they had yet to find her. The desert spans four states they said. It would be nearly impossible to find her without an idea of where to look. Somehow they all knew what each other was thinking…without the exact location from Natalie Davis…they wouldn't get to Sara in time.

The rain pelted the bottom of the upturned car. If the rain continued it would not be long until the car was completely submerged with water. Her clothes were already soaked and caked with wet mud. Sara had tried endlessly to pull herself out of her muddy prison to no avail. She was still trapped under the car with the water level climbing dangerously high.

It wasn't enough that she had to pull that double shift several hours ago; she had to be kidnapped and placed under a car by some crazy suspect.

"Crazy people do make me feel crazy." She whispers spitting out some mud that had entered her mouth.

There were so many things she rather be doing than this…even listening to Greg talk about how crazy his college days were or pretending that Hodges' conversation on the politics of garden gnomes was actually as interesting as he claimed it was. Who was she kidding?...she rather be in this mess than listening Hodges' drag on about those gnomes.

A smile appeared on her face at the thought. Memories of the team flooded her mind. The many breakfasts and late lunches she shared with the team.

Diner – Breakfast 

"_Come on just one little bite. It won't hurt ya." Greg said inching the forkful of meat towards Sara._

"_What part of 'I'm a vegetarian' don't you get?"_

"_You don't know what you're missing." Greg said putting the chunk of meat in his mouth. Meat juice dripped down the sides of his mouth._

"_Yeah, I rather not."_

"_Greg, use a napkin, will ya?" Nick said tossing him some napkins._

Greg spent the rest of the day by the toilet tossing his cookies and cursing the delicious steak. Food poisoning…go figure.

Time passed slowly as the team waited in the break room for the results. All the evidence was processed. There was nothing left to do, but wait…wait and hope that when they found her exact location it was not too late to save her.

Silence enveloped the room like a tight-fitted glove. The occasion drip of the old coffee machine was the only noise that reverberated the small room.

"What's taking so long?" Nick's voice ends the uncomfortable silence.

"Hodges is going as fast as he can, man." Was Warrick's response.

"I got it on good authority that those tests don't take as long as he says they do."

"Calm down, Nick. We'll find her." Warrick reassures Nick.

"I'm with, Nick. We gotta do something." The young CSI known as Greg says

"Well here's your chance." They turn towards the doorway to see Catherine.

"Dispatch reported an overturned car 10 miles outside of Vegas matching the description we gave them. Who's coming?"

"Me!!!" The three men say in unison following Catherine out the door.

The drive out to possible Sara's location would be a long one.

Greg looked out the window watching the rain beat against the window. His thoughts came back to the brunette they were trying to find.

"You remember the time Sara slipped and fell into one of Grissom's experiments?" Greg asks the other occupants of the vehicle. Warrick was the first to reply.

"The one with the sewage and slime. Yeah and can that girl run fast."

"Didn't think Grissom could run either." Nick says finally joining in the conversation.

"Did you see the fear in his eyes?" Catherine asks the guys from the passenger seat. Brass was silently driving towards their destination. "Wonder if she finally caught him."

A small smile appears on Brass' face despite his somber mood.

"_Grissom!!!" Sara yelled. Her voice bounced down the glass hallway._

"_I put up a sign." Grissom said in the most innocent face he could muster. He held up the sign to prove his point._

"_I just got the smell out from the decomp earlier!" Catherine hands her a towel to wipe off the slime. "Thanks."_

"_I'm sorry but I did have that sign up." Grissom restated then added, "Another shower couldn't hurt."_

"_You're lucky."_

"_Why is that?" Grissom asked, confused etched into his features._

"_Because the morgue is only a few feet away." Grissom's eyes widen and exits the room quickly with Sara not far behind. Warrick moved quickly out of the way before he and the evidence he brought back from ballistics are trampled. Nick and Greg watched the events from the safety of the trace lab._

A small chuckle escapes from Sara's lips. It hadn't taken Sara long to catch up to Grissom in his office where the door was closed promptly behind her.

She had to find a way out of this mess. She wasn't going to go out like this not under a car in the middle of nowhere. She had memories. Good ones not like the memories of her childhood.

Shaking the rest of the daze from the sedative she was given, Sara grabs onto to the soft mud and tries to slide herself out from under the car. The rain had softened the dirt enough for her to slide out easily.

She props herself up against the car in an effort to stand up. Her left leg buckles under the sudden weight. Her left ankle is either swollen or broken; she can't really tell by looking at it.

Sara hops to the nearest rock to sit and examine her injuries. The total comes out to a large gash above her right eyebrow - possibly the other reason behind her dizziness – and a swollen left ankle.

"Could be worse." Sara says. "Could be a lot worse."

"We're too late" Catherine says out loud as the guys reach the overturned car.

"What?!"

"Is she…"

"She's not here."

Catherine walks over to Grissom. He is sitting on the same rock Sara had sat on a few hours ago. Completely soaked from head to toe with his head in his hands.

"We'll find her."

"I know."

"You should go back to the lab, you're clothes are soaked. We can call you when we find her."

"No." His voice was above a whisper and a bit shaky. "I want to be there when we find her."

"At least change into the clothes I brought you."

Grissom nods his head and walks over to the Denali. Catherine lets out a sigh.

'We have to find her'

The bad thing about being in the desert out in the middle of nowhere is being lost in the desert in the middle of nowhere. The daze in her head confused her even more.

The rain continued to pour. She felt like she was going in circles. She found herself criticizing her own decision to leave the car that offered at least some protection from the relentless rain.

No she was right to leave. She would have drowned. But what if the team tracked down her previous location.

'Great just great.'

She walks a couple of feet before she loses her footing and falls to the wet ground. Either her mind was playing tricks with her or her ankle was even more swollen than she first thought.

Sara also notices a few more scrapes on her arms as the rain washed away some of the mud. Pulling herself up she continues on her way. She had to survive. So much in her life has gone wrong. She did not want it to end on a bad note.

The hope that Grissom and the rest of the team were out in the desert searching for her gave her the necessary push forward.

"She could be anywhere now." Nick says dejectedly.

"We'll find her." Greg says hopefully.

"Will everyone stop saying that! We haven't found her yet and it's already too dark to see anything."

"We're not giving up, Nicky." Warrick reassures him.

"Sara tougher than I give her credit for sometimes. A little rain won't stop her." Catherine yells through the rain.

Meanwhile at the station…

"I heard the officers talking they say you haven't found Sara."

Sophia sits across from Natalie Davis.

"But Sara will be found."

"Not in time." Sophia eyes widen at Natalie's statement.

"What do you mean?"

"Something is wrong with her little insides."

"What did you do to her?!" Sophia slams her hands on the table startling Natalie.

"Hurry as fast as you can…"

Sophia is out of the room before Natalie can continue. She pulls out her cell phone and dials Catherine's number.

Something was wrong. She felt it. Her vision seemed to get blurrier by the minute. At that moment it hit her, Natalie must have drugged her with something else besides a sedative. It made her weaker and gave her a sense of nausea.

Her hands reach instinctively for the necklace around her neck. Grissom had given it to her on their anniversary. It was beautiful. He claimed it didn't cost as much as it looked, but she knew different. Now it was covered in mud.

She threw up the remnants of her late dinner. She now knew something was wrong. She tried to catalogue various drugs she knew that would have that particular affect on her but came up empty. She felt so dizzy.

She collapsed to the floor unconscious, as the rain seemed to slow to a light drizzle.

* * *

That's all for now. Hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Please review and tell me what you think. 

**Until Next Time,**

**Ancient 85**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the characters that I create.

* * *

The apartment door burst open. Sophia and Brass rushed in along with a group of officers.

"I want all of you to search this place from top to bottom! We're not leaving till we find something! And put on some gloves!"

The officers begin their search at Brass' stern instruction. Sophia remains by his side.

"She spoke like …it was eerie."

"If something happens to Sara because of that psycho…forget the badge, I'll take her out myself." Brass says.

"You'll have to get in line" Sophia says turn to face Brass. "We'll find her in time."

Sara half expected to wake up on the couch of Grissom's office. The couch was uncomfortably stiff, but when you have just finished working a triple shift it was like sleeping on a bed of roses.

She opens her eyes to what she thought had been a nightmare. She was in the desert…and lost. She slowly gets to her feet and begins to dust off some of the dried mud from her pants.

Sometimes she wished she were a little less eager to go to work. She would have forgone on the whole 'I was kidnapped by a psycho and stuck under a car' thing. Or abducted in her case.

Sometimes she wished she things were different for her…not anything concerning Grissom or work. Everything was going great for her lately. She wouldn't want anything to different between her and Grissom.

What she wished was different was her childhood. Almost every memory she had as a child involved the back of the refrigerator. She remembers how her mother always told her to hide behind it if things ever got bad. Sara was behind the refrigerator a lot. So much she began to memorize the back of it, all the tubes and things that made the fridge work.

Sara never tried, but she knew that if the fridge ever broke down she'd be able to fix it.

It was not at all like it is now. Everything was going great for her. Well except for her current situation. She was lost in the desert and possibly poisoned by some derange psychopath.

Sara suddenly felt sick again. She was definitely poisoned. It was at that moment when she was hit by a memory.

_She was excited. It was after shift and she was on her way home. The whole evening/morning was all planned out. A dinner would be waiting for Grissom…whenever he decided to come home._

_She placed her case in the back of her car._

"_Sara" The sound of her name being called caused her to turn and face the woman._

_The unknown woman tilted her side to the side as if she was studying Sara._

"_Can I help you?" Everything suddenly turned black. Sara never got her answer._

She then remembers waking up some time later in the back of an old beaten up truck.

"_Looks like the dolly woke up."_

_Sara tries to lift herself up from her sitting position but isn't able to move. No rope restraints leads her to believe that whoever took her slipped her something after they knocked her out._

"_Didn't want you to run away and ruin my surprise for Mr. Grissom."_

"_What do you want?" Sara's voice comes out raspy._

"_I want to hurt, Mr. Grissom, and you're the best way to do it."_

"_What did you give me?"_

"_I used to work in hospitals. Hospitals carry lots of medicines."_

_Sara watched as Natalie opened the hatch of the truck._

"_Why me?"_

"_Because he loves you."_

Sara shakes the memory away. Anger boils inside of her. Just how many foreign substances did that crazy psycho inject her with?

"How did she get out?" Greg asks from the back seat. Warrick and Nick kept their eyes out on the wet desert in case they spotted Sara. Catherine was driving.

"You'd be surprise. I wouldn't put anything past Sara." Catherine says as her phone rings.

"Yeah?…Um okay…keep processing." She hangs up.

"What did they say?" Greg asks.

"They found a lot of blood on the seats of the car. They sent a sample of it to the lab. They think it might be Sara's."

Warrick and Nick's heads turn at Catherine's statement.

"Captain Brass, I found something." The younger officer says holding up some vials in his gloved hand.

"Good, take it to the lab."

* * *

Something was making her violently ill and she had yet to figure out what it was. She figured one of the substances was a paralyzing agent that had long ago worn off.

Her thoughts came back to the overturned car. She was pretty sure she heard something crack when she pulled herself out. Maybe she should have waited.

She was also pretty sure those contortionists that her dad used to take her to see at the circus wouldn't have cracked any ribs trying to get out of a sticky situation.

Thoughts of her father always brought her mixed emotions. She loved her father. She did. It was the things he'd do that made her hate him.

Here she was years later and still wishing things had been different in her childhood. It was sad…very sad.

She took off her jacket and tied it around her waist. She noticed a few more bruises and cuts that were hidden under the jacket. She keeps on walking even though she's already tired.

Although her watch was broken, she was sure it had been nearly 5 hours since she left …well since she was taken. Her dinner with Grissom was ruined. Because of some woman. It was always because of some woman.

Sure she got a little chuckle making jokes at his expense, but she couldn't help fill a little jealous as Catherine listed Lady Heather's qualities on that case several weeks ago. That small bit of jealously went out the window when he reassured her that Lady Heather was just a friend…and the dozens of calls to her cell phone the night he stayed at Heather's helped too.

* * *

"Who was watching her?!!!" Brass yells to the young officer in front of him.

"W…We had two guards posted outside the women's bathroom and one inside. She must've overpowered the officer inside and slipped out the small window." The officer says pointing to the window in the bathroom. Brass turns to his phone to alert nearby police units.

"What do you got, Liz?" Catherine asks entering the room. The brown haired lab tech looks up from the microscope. "Henry said he sent it to you."

"I was just going to page you. I was able to identify the substance as belonging to a Jerusalem Cherry."

"A plant? Is it poisonous?"

"The berries are, which happened to be in of the three vials. It's said to cause among other things gastric problems like vomiting and nausea…generally not life-threatening "

The relief flashed across Catherine's face.

"That's a relief."

"The problem is that it wasn't the only substance I found. This vial contains oleander." Liz says holding up the marked vial. "Its extremely lethal. It causes dizziness, irregular heart rate, breathing problems, nausea and a few other symptoms. Possibly ending in immediate death."

"What about the third one?"

"The third one contained Sodaapple nightshade. In addition to the symptoms the other two cause, this one can also cause hallucinations, fever, dilated pupils, and paralysis."

"And there's no way of knowing which one she gave her." Catherine says dejectedly

"If she gave her anything at all."

"Thanks, Liz."

"Sure. And I hope you guys find Sara."

* * *

It was a few hours before sunrise when Sara reached the highway. It was still dark, but at least it had stopped raining hours ago.

A serious cold was in her future. She didn't mind as long she escaped the nightmare she was in. The sound of soft footsteps behind her alerts her to the possibility of being rescued.

"Grissom?" Sara's voice came out a little strained and weak. She turns to see Natalie Davis standing before her.

"Not quite."

"How did you find me?"

"With this." Natalie holds up a small tracking device.

"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish."

"I told you, Sara. Mr. Grissom must pay."

"You're the miniature killer." Sara says stating something she had already figured out.

"You should have died. And he would have blamed himself for it."

"You underestimate me."

"Not really, Sara. The dolly still dies." Natalie says pulling out a gun.

* * *

"We have no leads and a psycho on the loose." Greg says to the lab technician.

"I wish I had more to tell you, but I don't. The substances in the vials all belong to plants you won't find going in Vegas." Liz says.

"You told Catherine that one of those could kill Sara."

"If given enough, anyone of those could kill her. In my opinion, the least lethal one is the nightshade. Less than 3 grams of it would cause the symptoms…anymore can cause death."

Greg slams his fist on the desk startling Liz.

"Sorry." Greg apologizes. Liz grabs an ice pack from one of the drawers and hands it to Greg.

"Its okay. Anyone can tell you're frustrated," Liz pauses for a moment, "…I'll tell you what. Let me call a guy I know. He can have several helicopters out there searching in less than ten minutes…unless you guys got that covered."

The look on Greg's face said otherwise.

"The department doesn't want to expend its resources on a CSI that might already be…"

"Then I'll call him."

"Thanks, Liz."

"Sure." Greg smiles at her before heading off to tell the others.

* * *

Sure enough there was about five helicopters in the sky not more than five minutes after the call.

"That kid wasn't kidding." Brass says looking up at the sky.

The noise of the helicopters went unnoticed by Grissom who was still searching for Sara a few feet away from Brass.

The ringing of his phone brought Brass out of his trance.

"Brass…we'll be there." Brass hangs up and faces Grissom's direction. "Catherine called they spotted Sara and Natalie several yards in front of us."

Grissom ran as fast as he could, not waiting for Brass to catch up.

* * *

That's all for now. What do you think Natalie poisoned Sara with? Your choices are: A.) Jerusalem Cherry; B.) Oleander; C.) Sodaapple Nightshade; or D.) Just a sedative and/or paralyzing agent

Send your answers in a review. And let me know what you think of the chapter. I'll update as soon as I can.

Until Next Time,

Ancient 85


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the characters that I create.

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Sara kept her glaze on the gun hoping Natalie wouldn't fire it.

"You ready to die, dolly?" Natalie asks with a tilt of her head. Sara raises her hands in front of her.

"You don't want… to kill me." Sara says. Her voice breaks a little.

"Dolly's wrong."

"I would be dead already." Sara regrets the words as they slip out of her mouth.

Antagonizing a psycho killer was not a very smart thing to do, but if she was an inch from death anyway…why not, huh?

"Look you don't have to do this. I…I…can help you. Just drop the gun and let me help you. You won't go to prison just somewhere they can take care of you. It won't be so bad." Sara says gaining more confidence and hope seeing the gun waver in Natalie's hands. She was getting through to her.

"I know how hard it is growing up in foster homes." Sara says remembering the many files on Dell's foster kids. "Everyone judging you, making fun of you…hurting you."

Natalie's eyes narrow at the last part of Sara's words.

"No one hurt me…I hurt them." Natalie falls into some sort of trance while mumbling words to an eerie song.

Sara takes the opportunity to reach for the gun in Natalie's hands. Natalie snaps out of it just as Sara gets her hands on the gun.

Two separate shots ring into the air causing Grissom to run fast in the direction of the shots.

Flashback 

"_Are you kidding me? Defense training." Sara asks staring at the flyer Grissom had given her. Grissom had called Sara into his office a few hours before shift was over._

"_I would feel safer if you knew how to defend yourself if anything should happen while I'm not home."_

_Sara hands him back the flyer. "I already know how to defend myself." Sara continues, "Plus, it's not like we live in a dangerous neighborhood."_

"_Many of our cases have been in nice neighborhoods." Grissom points out. Sara lets out a sigh._

"_Fine, but my boss will have to let me leave ten minutes early if I want to catch the late class." Sara says with a smile._

"_Thank you."_

_End of flashback_

The struggle continues. Sara rams her elbow in Natalie's stomach causing Natalie to lose her grip on the gun. A second blow, this time to the face, sends Natalie to the floor in pain.

"Sara!!"

The sound of someone shouting her name causes Sara to make the mistake of taking her eyes off her abductor. Everything turns black before Sara has a chance to say anything in return.

Natalie looks down at Sara's unconscious form and smiles.

"We're not done yet."

The sound of shouts alerts Natalie to the possibility of getting caught again if she doesn't hurry.

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Grissom gets to the side of the road just as the truck carrying Sara speeds away. He runs after it for a few feet before Brass stops him and ushers him into the passenger seat of the car.

"Suspect is heading down Moore Road. She is considered armed and dangerous. Proceed with caution. The suspect still has CSI Sidle. Repeat. The suspect still has CSI Sidle." Brass says into the police radio.

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The frequent bumps on the road cause Sara to come out of unconsciousness. Her hands and feet are tightly tied. She tugs at them only serving to make the ropes even tighter around her skin.

The car comes to a sudden stop. Her head hits the back of the truck bed hard. She shakes of the dizziness that came with the hit and readies herself for Natalie's appearance. Sara would not come quietly …not if she could help it.

Natalie anticipates Sara's onslaught and walks over to the back of the truck carrying a rifle, poised ready to shoot.

'Where did that gun come from' Sara thinks to herself.

All plans of attacking are suddenly dashed …well maybe postponed…as Natalie motions to somebody outside of Sara's view. Heavy footsteps relay the message of a second party.

A heavyset man walks over to the back and stands beside Natalie. A single scar runs across the left side of his face and Sara briefly wonders if she's seen him somewhere before.

The man waste no time in pull at the binds on her legs causing Sara's head and back to slam down on the truck bed effectively knocking her out in the process.

"Don't break the dolly."

The guy mumbles something under his breath before tossing Sara carelessly over his shoulder and following Natalie to a small desert bunker.

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"No luck?" Liz says from the doorway. Greg looks up with a sad, hopeless look in his eyes.

"She took off with Sara again."

"I wish there was something I could do."

"Believe me, you've done more than enough."

"Still it hasn't helped find out where that psycho took Sara." Liz walks over to coffee pot and pour a cup of coffee for Greg. She hands it to him.

"Thanks." Greg says taking the cup.

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"Wake up, girl."

Sara opens her eyes slowly and sees a man looming over her. She instinctively backs away from the large man.

"Whoa easy there."

Natalie walks over and stands beside the man.

"What now, Nat?"

"Lights out, C.J." Natalie says pointing a gun at him and firing two shots to the man's temple. CJ falls to the floor. Natalie turns the gun on Sara and holds on her for a few seconds before lowering the gun.

"I don't want you dead…not yet."

Sara doesn't say anything.

"You said you knew what it was like…or was that a lie, too?"

'Too?' Sara thinks to herself.

"You've been lying to everyone, lately. Haven't you?"

"What are you…talking about?" Sara says between breaths.

"Your relationship with Mr. Grissom. But that doesn't matter anymore."

"Why if that was the reason I'm here?"

"Dolly's gonna die soon."

"I'm not afraid."

"You should be I gave you enough Oleander to kill you. Its pretty, huh?" Natalie says picking up the plant from a table nearby and looking at it with childish fascination.

Flashback 

"_Slow day, huh?" Sara says walking into Liz's lab. Liz looks up from a botany book she was reading._

"_When I have time to read this all the way through three times. I say 'yes' it's a slow day."_

"_Is that all you do in your free time?" _

_Liz puts the book down._

"_I would ask you the same question but I already know better." Sara smiles. "Can you hand me that?" Liz says pointing to the jar next to Sara. _

"_Besides Brass, you're the only other person that knows about me and Grissom." Sara hands her the jar filled with some kind of herbs. _

"_It's not like you told me I just happened to walk into my lab at the wrong time."_

"_Yeah sorry about that." Sara looks curiously as Liz grabs a bowel and places the herbs in it._

"_I'm just glad that I didn't walk in on anything…uh…more intimate."_

_"Are you making a potion?" Liz laughs._

_"No. Its for a cold case dayshift is working on. I kind of forgot until now. And since I'm the only botantist in the lab it gets dumped on me."_

_"Well now you got something to do." Sara says with a smile._

"_Are you ever going to tell them?"_

"_Not yet." Sara says looking at the many plants in the room. "You sure like plants."_

"_Yeah." Liz pours water on the plants in front of her._

"_Aren't these Greg's?" Sara says holding up some CDs. Liz turns around._

"_Yeah they were. He gave them to me. Thought I could use them."_

"_Most of them are on DNA analysis. Unless you're planning a new career move…" Sara says with a smirk. Liz walks over and grabs the CDs._

"_No career move…just curious."_

"_About DNA analysis or Greg." Liz's cheeks turn a bright shade of red before she turns away._

"_DNA"_

_Sara smiles and continues to look at the plants. Liz's back wall is adorned with photos of several plants under the title 'Poisonous Plants'._

"_Didn't know Oleanders were poisonous."_

"_Neither did Dr. Grissom until I told him…you should thank me by the way."_

_Sara laughs. "Thanks."_

"_Although it is possible to have them and not get poisoned. It doesn't exactly send the right message. Unless an instant death is the whole point."_

"_You'd be surprised at what people do."_

"_I learned that six minutes into the job." Sara smiles at Liz's statement._

_End of flashback_

"You're the one who is lying."

Natalie looks at Sara with confusion written all over her face.

"I don't lie."

"I'm sorry. You just kill innocent people." Sara's voice is laced with sarcasm.

"They weren't innocent!!" Natalie slaps Sara with the gun. Blood trickles down Sara's mouth.

"What next, Natalie? Killing me? What I know so far is that all your attempts have failed even that so-called deadly dose you gave me."

"You don't know that."

"I have a friend who does."

"Her name is Liz, right. Saw you talk to her a few times. She lives in a nice house. Doesn't go out much."

"You've been following her." Sara tries to keep talking even through the exhaustion and dizziness as she secretly struggles against the rope binds around her wrists.

"I've been following you."

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"There's nothing out here but dirt and more dirt!" Warrick says out loud.

"Brass said she went down Moore." Nick says from the driver's seat.

"Yeah, but that was hours ago, man."

"Its daylight now. We might have better luck finding…"

"Look! Over there!" Nick points to a vehicle parked a few yards up the road. "Isn't that the truck?"

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Natalie paces around the room unsure of what to do. She had measured everything perfectly. Sara should have been dead a long time ago. But she wasn't and that made Natalie nervous. She could not leave and sacrifice the revenge she had waited months for.

She broke out of her thoughts in time to see Sara break out of the restraints. Natalie unconsciously pulls the trigger of the handgun. Sara immediately falls to the floor with a thud.

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That's it for now. Sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger like that. I'll update when I get the chance. Let me know what you think about the chapter. Please review.

**Until Next Time,**

**Ancient 85**


	4. Chapter 4

**I know it was pretty cruel to leave it at a cliffhanger. So I'll make up for it with this swift update.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the characters that I create.**

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Sara opens her eyes again to see Natalie staring down at her with a quizzical glaze. Her left shoulder and arm burned with an intensity she had not felt in a long time.

"Your lucky I missed." Natalie blurts out.

"If I was lucky I wouldn't be here." Sara says grabbing her wounded arm. The bullet left behind a deep abrasion. A few more inches and it would have been a different story.

Sara rips a strip of her already tattered clothing to tie around the wound in order to stop the bleeding.

"That's not the first time I used a gun." Natalie says stating the obvious.

"Not the first time I've been hit by a bullet." Natalie looks at her quizzically.

Sara's mind is suddenly flooded with memories of her childhood and the one gun incident involving her older brother. He had been playing with their father's gun. It accidentally fired hitting Sara in the foot. It was the day before her whole life changed. The day before her mother killed her father.

She often wondered if that was the reason behind the deadly argument.

"I'm not sorry." Natalie admits sending Sara out of her thoughts.

"Didn't think you were."

"Killing those people. I'm not sorry. They deserved what they got."

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"It's empty!" Nick says. He slams his fist on the truck.

"Easy Nick. Its evidence." Catherine says coming up behind him. She had arrived with Greg a few minutes after Nick and Warrick.

"You sit here and look for evidence. I'm going to find Sara." Nick takes off. He only goes walks a couple feet when he notices a bunker.

"I think she's in there." He points to the bunker.

"Ok wait, let me call back up." Catherine grabs her phone.

"I can't wait." Nick heads to the bunker at full speed with Greg and Warrick running after him.

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They had been combing the desert for hours and Brass was starting worry about Grissom. He hadn't eaten nor slept since Sara disappeared.

Grissom was taking her disappearance pretty hard. He saw the desperation in Grissom's eyes as he frantically searched for her. Anyone with two eyes could tell how much he cared about her.

Brass heard the faint ringing of his cell phone and makes a beeline for his car.

"Brass"

"_It's Catherine. We think she may have found her."_

"Where?"

"_A few miles ahead of you and Grissom. Look for a bunker."_

"I'm calling back up. We'll be there. Don't go in."

"_Nick took off. Warrick and Greg went after him."_

Brass shakes his head as he hangs up the phone.

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"I think he forgot about you."

Sara pulls herself up off the floor still grabbing her injured arm.

"I don't believe that."

"You should. It will be easier to accept your death."

"Killing me won't solve anything, Natalie." The burning in Sara's arm stops and is replaced with complete numbness in her entire arm.

Either her entire arm had gone numb because of the bullet or she was still experiencing the effects of the poison.

"You're wrong! It will. Mr. Grissom will hurt inside and blame himself." Natalie says shaking the gun at Sara. "I want him to hurt. Like he forced Ernie to hurt himself."

"Ernie Dell made his decision. The wrong one." Natalie glares at Sara.

"Shut up! You don't know that!"

"He thought you were going to stop killing people. He tried to protect you." Sara slowly walks towards her feeling a little lightheaded due to the amount of blood she has already lost. Natalie backs away from Sara, shaking her head. She drops the gun carelessly to the floor in the process.

"Stop saying that!"

"You know it. I …know it." Sara briefly closes her eyes as a blast of pain hits her side. The cause of the pain seemed to be her ribs. Possibly broken or at the very least bruised. When she opens her eyes again she is confronted by the image of her father coming towards her.

Natalie studies the look of shock and fear in Sara's eyes.

Natalie inches toward her causing Sara to be the one to immediately back away.

"Get away!"

Natalie looks at her clearly confused by Sara's sudden change in demeanor. The confused gaze turns into a knowing evil smirk.

"See something scary, Sara?"

Sara reaches behind her for anything she can use as a weapon.

"I read your file before. I studied everything about you, even your past. I wanted to know what Mr. Grissom saw in you. You weren't lying when you said you knew what foster homes were like."

Sara's hands come across a lead pipe, which she readily grabs and prepares to use if the image of her father comes any closer.

"It makes me happy to know your childhood was worse than mine." Natalie says with an eerie smile. Sara only hears the words her father used to repeat every time he was in one of his rage-filled moods.

'You will learn even if have beat it out of you' 

Natalie walks forward and receives a blow to the head courtesy of the lead pipe in Sara's hands. Due to Sara's weakened state, there was not enough force behind the blow to knock Natalie completely only enough to put Natalie in a temporary daze.

Sara runs for the door, but is tackled to the floor by Natalie.

"Bad dolly."

Sara kicks her off with all the energy she has left. Natalie recovers and slams Sara against the dirt wall before she can get far. Her hands immediately go to Sara's neck in a chokehold.

"I can finish what your father started."

Sara struggles against Natalie's hands trying to loosen Natalie's grip on her.

"No one will hear you now."

With newfound anger, Sara rakes her fingers across the other woman's eyes causing Natalie to stumble backwards. Sara grabs the gun from the floor and aims it at her attacker.

The gun is shaky in Sara's hands. Her arm continues to bleed and soak the makeshift bandaged Sara fashioned from her clothes. Sara's vision grew even more blurry giving Natalie the opportunity she needed to make a grab for the gun.

The poison had not completely left Sara's system thwarting her reaction time. Natalie already had her hands on the gun before Sara had the chance to move or fire.

The gun accidentally goes off in the struggle. Followed by another shot.

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"The shots came from over there."

Hearing the first gunshot temporarily stopped the men in their tracks before they reach the door.

"Wait here." Brass says pulling out his gun. Sophia does the same and signals Brass that she's ready with a nod of her head.

They bust threw the door and immediately see Natalie's still form surrounded by a small pool of blood.

"Sara?"

The walk further into the bunker and find Sara's unconscious form with the gun held loosely in her hands.

Brass checks her pulse and finds a steady pulse.

"I've got a pulse… Sara?"

Sara jerks at the sound of her name.

"Is he…gone?" Sara asks not fully realizing whom she is talking to. Her voice comes at a bit raspy.

"Its just us." Brass responds a bit confused. He looks at Sophia for a moment before he turns back to Sara. "Let's get you out of this place."

As if on cue, Grissom bursts threw the entrance practically running to Sara's side. Sara looks at Grissom for a moment. Great concern etched in Grissom's features.

She snaps out of her hallucinogenic daze at the sight of Grissom. She touches the side of Grissom's face to make certain that what she sees is real.

A small smile creeps to Sara's face.

"I knew you wouldn't forget about me."

"Not even if I tried."

Sara looks at her surroundings unsure of where she is, forgetting momentarily what had happen between her and who she thought was her father.

The name Natalie Davis came to her.

"Where's Natalie?"

The other people in the room glance at each other unsure of what to say to her.

Images of the struggle run through Sara's mind. _The first shot… then the other._

A glance at her blood stained clothes and Natalie's still form several feet away confirms her fears.

"No…No!"

"Its okay, Sara. Its over now." Grissom reassures her pulling her into a hug. Sara flinches in his grasp alerting the others to Sara's wounded arm.

"We have to get her to a hospital. She's been shot."

Brass grabs his phone to call for an ambulance.

The rest of the gang rush in to see Sara for themselves. Relief showers their faces then is replaced with worry when they hear the tail end of Grissom's statement. _She's been shot._

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The bitter smell of the Desert Palms Hospital brought Sara out of her slumber. She passed out some time between transport and one of Greg's stories about his adventures in an effort to get Sara's mind off of what happened.

If she hadn't made it out of all this alive that was one of the things she'd miss…Greg's attempts to make her feel better. He never failed to make her laugh.

_Nick_. She would have defiantly missed the playful banter between the two of them. He had always been there for her. Even when she made it seems as though she rather be alone.

_Warrick_. He was something else. He oozed a sense of serenity and poise she always wanted to exist within herself. Loyalty seemed to be second nature to him. She could always count on his support. She would have definitely missed that.

_Catherine._ Their relationship was rocky at first, but Sara had grown to respect her, simply for surpassing her past. Her confidence rolled off her in waves. The thing Sara would have missed most about her was that confidence that seemed to follow Catherine wherever she went.

Every one of them held qualities that she wished she had. Greg's boundless humor, Nick's welcoming demeanor, Warrick's serenity, and Catherine's immeasurable confidence.

Then there was Jim Brass. Sara had come to regard him as her surrogate father. He would always offer his advice…even if she didn't ask for it. His not so subtle hints about what he knew existed between her and Grissom always left her guessing as to how much Grissom had told him about their 'secret' relationship. He was everything her own father wasn't and for that simple reason she would have missed him.

Her thoughts came back to Grissom, as they always do. More so lately since his complete immersion into the mini crime scene murders.

Now she was a part of that. The last victim of the mini crime scene killer.

Last 

The word hit her.

Natalie was dead. No more victims. No more murders.

Because of her.

Sara had done the one thing she promised herself she would never do.

She took a life.

Her mother had.

Now she had too.

"I'm not my mother." Her voice bounces off the walls of her hospital room. The words startle the sleeping person in the chair next to her bed.

"Are you okay? Do you need something?" Grissom asks worried.

"Just you right now." Sara grabs his hands. Grissom notices her avoidance of his first question. _'That is to be expected' _The doctor's words ring in his ears.

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"I'm glad you're okay." Sara looks up to see Liz in the doorway.

"Thanks in part to you." Sara answers. Grissom left a few hours earlier at the request of Sara to get some sleep.

"My dad was in the army. I used his contacts to call in a favor."

"Still you didn't have to."

"Are you really…"

"Okay?" Sara finishes. "I don't really know. Some day maybe, not now."

"Ecklie and some guys from dayshift came to see you earlier, probably to question you. I gave them the wrong room number."

Sara smiles for a moment then her face grows serious.

"What was it?"

"You mean the poison?"

Sara nods her head.

"Soda apple Nightshade. It wasn't a lethal dose. You were lucky."

"I must be. I have all of you." Sara says looking up at the new occupants entering the room. Nick, Brass, Greg, Catherine, Warrick, and Grissom walk over to her bed. Even some of the lab techs were there to wish Sara a swift recovery.

"You must be."

The End

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**Hoped you liked the story. I liked to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have reviewed this story. I'm really glad you have enjoyed reading just as much as I enjoyed writing it. Much of this chapter was inspired by Amanda Clemens' song **_**I Don't Want To Be Me**_** and Kate Bush's _This Woman's Work. _The song '_This Woman's Work_' actually comes out in one of the season 8 promo clips. I was watching it as I was writing this chapter. ****Check out those songs, they're great. Oh and check out my other stories. Some of them are in need of reviews. Don't forget to review this one either. Have a nice day!**

**Until Next Time,**

**Ancient 85**


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